Reading Electronic Books

And I'm Liz Waid. Spotlight uses a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand, no matter where in the world they live. Voice 3

"The storyteller stands next to the fire dancing, acting, singing and repeating a story...Listening to him is a crowd of men, women, and children...In a mountain rainforest of the Congo, a village hears again the story of its favourite hero – Mwindo, the one born walking, the one born talking..." Voice 1

These words introduce a story called "The Magic Flyswatter." The story is about a young boy who is a superhero. He has powers most humans do not have. "The Magic Flyswatter" is one of many stories told in Congolese culture. And today, it is helping people learn to read. An organization named Worldreader is using stories like "The Magic Flyswatter" to encourage reading. However, they are not using printed paper books. Instead, they are using new electronic books. Voice 2

Reading is a powerful skill. It can help people learn a lot of new information - information that can change their lives. For many years, organizations like "Books for Africa," and "Better World Books," have provided books for communities in need. These organizations serve communities that have low reading rates or few books. They ship books to these communities, using donated money. Voice 1

This model has worked. Recently, however, a few organizations have attempted to use a new model. They are using a new technology called electronic readers. Electronic readers, or e-readers, are small computers designed just for reading. Voice 2

Using e-readers has many benefits. For example, it costs a lot of money to send books internationally. E-readers cost money to buy, but they do no cost a lot of money to send. And when a community or a family has an e-reader, there are many free or low-cost electronic books they can read. Voice 1

For a village with few books, e-readers can offer many more literature choices. Normally, paper books are sent in large boxes to villages. A village does not choose the particular books they receive, so these books may not interest them. With an e-reader, people can choose from over 700,000 electronic books or e-books. So they can find the books that interest them. Voice 2

A popular e-reader, known as the Kindle, also includes a dictionary. This means if people read a word they do not understand, they can look for the meaning of the word. The organization Worldreader is one organization that uses e-readers. It recently completed an e-reader test project in the country of Ghana. The students involved in the test had previous experience using mobile phones, but they had never used computers. Many students reported the e-readers were easy to use. Voice 1

Another benefit of e-readers is their mobility. People can put books on their e-readers and carry them around anywhere. An e-reader with ten e-books is still a light weight – much lighter than carrying around ten paper books. So, students learning to read can take their e-books anywhere. Books are also easy to organize on e-readers. Voice 2

However, all of the exciting advantages of e-readers and e-books present problems as well. For example, e-readers like the Kindle were not created to help people learn to read. Instead, they were created as a way to read without using paper books.